Ecotranzit

December 8, 2015

The concept

Ecotranzit is an autonomous urban shipping robot that work in combination with shipping trucks operators to deliver packages. Ecotranzit would be able to ride on existing streets, sidewalks or use bike paths. They could also be paired with the UPEX autonomous shipping truck (see concept) to deliver packages directly to merchants.

The background

All across the world, there are thousands of courier services that deliver parcels by truck in our cities. They take up a fair percentage of our roads, they are noisy, they block the street, and they pollute our atmosphere with their diesel engines. With the arrival of driverless technology and advanced robotics, we could envision more eco-friendly solutions to reduced the footprint of these trucks in our streets.

How it works

The Ecotranzit’s power would come from a hydrogen fuel cell or a battery pack that would provide 10,000 watts to its four wheels. (4WD would be optional). The small fuel cell would be located under the floor, or the vehicle could be made to run using propane gas.

This autonomous robot would feature a cargo space to store RFID tagged parcels. A rolling carpet would be embedded at the bottom of that space, it would serve to deliver the parcels at the same height of a regular sidewalks.

The Ecotranzit would be designed to carry payloads up to 110kg (approximately 250 lb). Pricing would be based on distance covered, weight transported, and waiting time. Invoicing and tracking would be similar to what’s already in use.

What’s it used for

In the future, a shipping company’s driver would be able to deliver a series of packages simultaneously by using Ecotranzits. These vehicle would help unclog our streets, reduce noise and pollution and increase efficiency. It could also save time and money to everyone involved.

The designer

I would like to thank Martin Rico who created the images of the Ecotranzit concept. Martin lives near Buenos Aires in Argentina. He studied Design at the University of Buenos Aires and now works as a Freelance Industrial Designer.